says the phone records collection program has foiled multiple terrorist attacks. investors are anxiously awaiting today's jobs report. plus england's prince phillip is undergoing surgery. sara jessica parker puts her foot forward in a big business deal. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for friday, june 7th. good morning, i'm mara schiavocampo. we begin with the latest in the nsa phone log controversy and this morning there are reports it's not just phones. an article in today's "the washington post" says the government is also tapping into some of the country's biggest internet companies. google, facebook, apple are part of a secret program called prism but some of those companies deny

the claims. it all began with a report in the guardian newspaper saying verizon call logs are being kept in national security agency computers. the government has access to times and the calls and their duration but not names and recordings unless officials suspect a specific threat. amid all of the controversy the obama administration is getting support from some unlikely lawmakers. >> within the last few years this program was used to stop a program, excuse me stop a terrorist attack in the united states. >> it doesn't bother me one bit for the national security administration to have my phone number because what they are trying to do is find out what terrorist groups we know about and what individuals and who they are calling. >> all of this puts attorney general eric holder back in the hot seat and civil liberty groups are outraged. tracie potts joins us live from washington now with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. like the aclu they say this can

have a chilling effect on privacy and we learned since that guardian report it's not just verizon it's all major carers in the united states under orders like these. the obama administration is defending this. first of all congress authorized it and re-authorized it numerous times and it's working. the program is keeping terrorists from hurting our country. now, we are also learning that just a few months ago the president's director of national intelligence denied here on capitol hill any sort of mass surveillance. here's what he said. >> does the nsa collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans? >> no, sir. >> reporter: there's a separate program separate from the phone calls that's tracking emails and

posts online in real-time. the government able to tap into the servers of some of these providers, some of the largest internet providers to get that information, looking for suspicious messages mostly in and out of the country not messages that are sent domestically within the country. that's a completely separate program we've now confirmed separate from those phone calls. >> thanks. the first storm of the atlantic hurricane season is making its way up the east coast. tropical storm andrea weakened considerably after making landfall thursday in florida. it's still expected to pack a punch of heavy rain through saturday. winds of up to 65 miles per hour thrash the east coast. a handful of tornadoes touched down. we're just one week into hurricane season. even andrea couldn't stop the nation's best known daredevil from doing a little practice.

nick wallenda practicing for his walk across the grand canyon. george zimmerman's murder trial takes place in three days. zimmerman's lawyers say prosecutors are withholding photos of guns from trayvon martin's phone. the judge also rejected the defense's request to shield the identity of as many as seven witnesses. this after a lawyer for the "orlando sentinel" argued for transparency but zimmerman's attorney said some witnesses are concerned with their safety. >> my understanding is that they are very concerned when they come before the court and they testify truthfully as to what they saw and it leads to a certain verdict let's say an acquittal they will be subject to ridicule or retribution. >> the third issue voice comparison technology used to analyze the 911 call from the night of the shooting that killed the unarmed 17-year-old.

zimmerman has pleaded not guilty and claims self-defense. george zimmerman has sued nbc universal for defamation. the company has denied his allegations. in a surprise development north and south korea have agreed told their first official talk in more than two years. the north is proposing working level meetings on sunday about re-opening a joint korean industrial park and restarting tourist exchanges and reunions of separated families. they would re-open a communication line shut down in march. it comes ahead of a u.s.-china summit. a day after a legal victory for a sick little girl there's a similar outcome for another child. the mother of an 11-year-old successfully sued to lift age restrictions and allowed him to apply for adult transplant. without the proclamation he has only months to live.

it comes a day after a judge ruled in favor of a 10-year-old. her parents sudden to suspend current rules that allow patients 12 and older to apply for a spot on the adult transplant list. new developments in the irs firestorm this morning. a mea culpa from a top official after a "star trek" parody goes public. it's one of three produced for more than $50,000 for a $4 million training conference in 2010 all at the expense of you and me the taxpayers. current irs commissioner was responsible for that conference. he played dr. spock in the parody video. after representative issa grilled him he agreed it wasn't the best use of taxpayer money. >> what were you thinking? were you thinking this would never be seen or were you thinking how would this look

when it was seen. >> the fact of the matter is it's embarrassing. and i apologize. >> well now for a look at the weekend forecast we're joined by bill karins. good morning. >> the weekend will clear out. friday stay indoors. nap day. andrea moving up the east coast. we continue to watch the heavy rain falling. the flooding hasn't been all that bad but we've seen as much as 2 1/2 inches of rain in south carolina and jacksonville. not a lot of rain on the back side. once i want goes past you your weather will improve. winds are not an issue. rainfall totals in the northeast so far pretty light. totalling up somewhere between two and three inches. let me try to show you the path of the storm and the timing of it. by 8:00 p.m. it's in nova scotia

and heading out to sea. we only have to deal with this for about 36 more hours. this morning at 7:00 a.m. heaviest rains are down in north carolina and virginia. by the time we get through friday afternoon the heaviest rain shifts to the mid-atlantic region up in new york and then friday night areas of new england. middle of the country you're fine. southeast and florida maybe an isolated storm or two. most of the day is dry. mid-atlantic will see worst of the weather that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. once again the heavier rains will arrive in boston not until this evening and overnight hours tonight. for areas like raleigh to richmond all the way up to washington, d.c. and baltimore your heavy rains will be during the day today. so andrea more like a wake up call, everyone needs to be prepar prepared, it's hurricane season. just a reminder.

>> thanks. just ahead, would you trade in your old apple iphone for an upgrade if apple made it worth your while? a tight one in south beach goes down-to-the-wire. details just ahead.

other stories in the news this morning, new jersey will soon have a republican senator for the first time in more than 40 years. governor chris christie picked jeff chiesa to hold the seat until a special election this year. britain's prince phillip will undergo surgery this morning at a london hospital. buckingham hospital says the procedure is necessary. the 91-year-old husband of queen elizabeth was hospitalized for nearly a week last summer for a bladder infection. president obama is searching for green for the democratic party. he'll attend a pair of

fundraiser in san jose before heading to southern california. there he will meet with china's president. vladimir putin and his wife reached a joint decision to end their marriage after 30 years. they announced their divorce on state tv after seeing a performance of the moscow ballet together. ester williams died. she was best known for hollywood films featuring synchronized swimming spectacles in the '40s and '50s. she was 91. turning now to business. investors are anxiously awaiting this morning's may jobs report. economists are expecting unemployment rate to stay at 7.5%. we'll get all the details at 8:00 eastern time. new york republican congressman peter king wants to bring online gambling back with confidence. he wants a bill that would regulate it on a national level.

sara jessica parker is teaming up with a high end shoemaker to launch her own line of shoes. apple iphone users, there's a report out that the company is teaming up with bright star to create an iphone trade in program. apple hopes users will cash in those units in favor of upgrading to the 5. online dating website surveyed 32% lining about income and age 32% lied about having children. coming up, the fastest man in the world is beaten by an american. we got all the details. plus what happens when you mix a news anchor, snoop dogg and jimmie fallon? this one you want to see and hear. stay with us.

jimmy fallon is always looking to make his show better. one way he does that is by taking audience suggestions. what happens when an audience suggests combining brian williams with a snoop dogg song. >> ladies and gentlemen here's a clip of brian williams edited to make it took like he's performing the snowing dog

classic. ♪ one two three four snoop dogg has a door nothing but a key thing. death row is a label. to the next episode ♪ >> absolutely brilliant. i want to say for the record that's one of my favorite records. richard lui is here with the latest in sports. what song would you want? >> i couldn't follow brian williams. that was fantastic. thank you very much, mara. good friday to you. it's a first. bolt out sprinted by justin gallant. bolt is the world record holder. the margin here 100th of a second. the nba finals game one final seconds san antonio tony parker sinks the game winner there.

time left on the shot clock. spurs surprised the 245e9-88. he's gone. george carl fired and named the nba coach of the year but just a month ago reports say it was a contract related issue. he's expected to sign with another team. in the nhl playoff over a minute left. chicago scores with 3-2 win over the defending champs, the l.a. kings the blackhawks lead three games to one. serena williams destroying her opponent in just 46 minutes, mara. she advances to the french finals. she's fast. maria sharapova won to advance there. williams versus sharapova in their 16th meeting here saturday 9:00 a.m. eastern on nbc. new york yankees slugger is leaving alone an alleged connection to the performance-enhancing drug controversy in major league baseball. talking about axs rodriguez. he said myself and others are being mentioned in a media report before the process has

concluded. i would hope this thing would follow the guidelines of our basic agreement. i will monitor the situation and comment when appropriate. in boston fenway park's first pride night. jason collins threw out the first pitch. he revealed last month he's gay. david ortiz, big papi had a walk off. red sox win over texas. back to you. thanks so much, richard. just ahead, justin bieber wants to take the universe by storm. new developments in the paris jackson story. also in the civil trial over her father' death. you're watching "early today".

tropical storm andrea's winds are no threat. the rain will move up the coast. flood watches go from georgia up through new england. potential for some flooding but not catastrophic or epic or anything like that. just localized flooding concerns. middle of the country is calm but we'll warm it up and heat it up too. especially in the desert southwest all the way to texas. by the time we get to saturday new england will clear out and everyone will look for a pretty decent sunday out there. again andrea will be gone by saturday afternoon. >> thanks. time for entertainment. it will be an interesting mix at the box office this weekend as comedy goes up against horror. wedding crashers reunite as middle aged google trainees in

the internship. all crime becomes legal in the violent thriller the purge. plus the highly-anticipated modern adaptation of shake disappear's much ado about nothing. the ceo of aeg said he never consulted with doctors about michael jackson's health. jackson's son prince michael jackson has cancelled his trip to europe so he can be with his sister paris as she recovers. jennifer lawrence is planning double duty for her newest film. she will star in and produce the upcoming movie rules of inheritance. the original members of metal band black sabbath have reunited. the new album hits u.s. stores on tuesday. and justin bieber is going galactic. he joined the long list of

celebs who signed up for richard branson virgin atlantic space flight program. a lot of people would like to see him leave the planet for a while. >> a headline. is it his way not being in a negative headline. don't drive the ferrari. i'm mara schiavocampo and this is "early today" just your first stop of the day today on nbc.

good morning. welcome to news4 today for this friday. june 7th. tropical storm andrea is coming up the east coast. it is also carrying heavy rains and has spawned a handful of warnings. tom klerein the question is when are we going to start feeling this? >> the heaviest rain will start around noon time. the radar shows showers overnight. left us an inch of rain until now. but right now a little bit of shower activity across the metro

area. including montgomery season. there is no heavy rain yet, by noon time the heaviest rains begin to move in. we have a big area of flood watch. look at the latiest track. good morning. we have flooding issues. watch for ponding on the roadway. watch for slick conditions on the roadway as well. reports of ponding on the roadways around the beltway. >> right now utility crews are working to restore power to

thousands in our area. 4,000 customers are without power in our area. 2700 most in the county. smeco has no outages. this morning we are getting a look at the dig hipd. the storm surge flooded the coast yesterday. we are six days into the hurricane subpoeeason. >> you don't expect it toe early in the year. the national weather service says the system will remain

until it reaches new england lan until tomorrow. residents filled bags with sand to protect homes. flooding already a problem in charleton south carolina. high tide pushing in. 7 to 8 inches of rain to fall along the coast. >> cuba is dealing with major flooding as well. as least 30 towns were hit hard. june has brought buckets of rain to cuba. one western